1998 Martin 000-28EC Eric Clapton Signature Flattop Guitar

June 02, 2019

1998 Martin 000-28EC Eric Clapton Signature Flattop Guitar

Yep, this guitar does sound like its soundclip. It's clean, loud, full, and controlled. You know that sound when you hit a nicely-made Martin with a heavy pick and it has this grunt that almost sounds like you dropped a medium-sized rock into water and it just goes blah-oop somewhere in there? It's a little hard to explain, but this one does that in the mids/lower-mids. It's a sort-of velvety aggressive quality that I'm trying to put to words. It's a little something extra that most 000s I've played don't have -- and for me, it's the make-or-break for a 000. I'm pretty stand-offish on most 000 models (I tend to prefer 00s) so it's nice to play one that makes use of that extra inch on the lower bout.

Truth be told, though, these EC models have the specs that also help them shine baked into the design. They're also classy. This one's near-mint save for only the most minor of use-wear here and there. It looks like a guitar that's been out at a store for 4-6 months -- not something made in '98. It's clean.

Work included: mild cleaning and a fresh setup with 54w-12 gauges. The neck's straight, the truss-rod works, and it plays spot-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret.

Scale length: 24 13/16"

Nut width: 1 3/4"

String spacing at nut: 1 9/16"

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/4"

Body length: 19 3/8"

Lower bout width: 15 1/8"

Upper bout width: 11 3/8"

Side depth at endpin: 4"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid Indian rosewood

Bracing type: x-braced

Fretboard: ebony